The Fix in the Heartbreak
by LostGiraffe2
Summary: /She had given him everything she had to offer and in the cruelest twist of fate, he had been forced to reject her./ Post S8 story. Rated M for later chapters.
1. Chapter 1

Booth woke upto an empty side of the bed, as had been the norm ever since the night Pelant had given him no choice but to break off their engagement.

Brennan had made a point of leaving the house and heading off to work long before he woke up. It had been two weeks since that awful night and they had not exchanged many words since then. Awkward silences and stilted conversations with barely-there replies plagued their time together. At work they had reverted to pure professionalism, something that was a foreign concept for both. Banter and jokes had no place in their newly vulnerable relationship.

On the rare occasion Brennan did talk to him outside work, the conversation inevitably revolved around Christine. After putting Christine to bed, Brennan now diappeared to her home office and avoided their bedroom until she was sure Booth was asleep. Booth had attempted to coax her away from work since the sleepless nights were marking themselves with the bags beneath her eyes. Though, as expected, all his attempts were futile and always met with cold glares and minimum eye contact. The same response also awaited him whenever he tried to drag her away from the lab for lunch. She was doing her best to avoid him and the worst thing was that Booth couldn't even blame her.

Brennan was doing her best with trying to hide her pain but Booth saw the lingering hurt constantly present in her eyes and it tore at his heart. She had given him everything she had to offer and in the cruelest twist of fate, he had been forced to reject her. The anger rose in his throat, his fists automatically clenching at the thought of the bastard behind all their problems. Pelant. Booth had never wanted to kill someone so badly in his life; the rage that consumed him almost brought tears to his eyes.

Booth had devised many potential plans in his head since that night. Ways in which he could tell Brennan the truth behind his actions, but it was too damn risky. If Pelant caught even the faintest sniff that Brennan might know the truth, he would no doubt go ahead and kill those people and Booth just couldn't risk it. And how could he even burden her with the truth? He would not let her carry that weight on her shoulders; the knowledge that her awareness (or lack thereof) determined the fate of innocent lives. It had also not escaped his attention that Pelant had only mentioned four people even though he had threatened the lives of five. Booth had an inkling that the elusive fifth person might be Brennan but thinking that way only made him even more angry and scared.

Booth sighed and got out of bed with a wistful glance to the other side of their bed, his body feeling heavy with all the stress that had engulfed him. He missed her. He missed the feeling of her body against his and the comfort he would derive from the sound of her hearbeat against his. Needless to say, there had been very little physical contact between them the past two weeks. Brennan shied away from his innocent touches while at work and shrugged away immediately when he tried to guide her with his had on her back. Although he understood her need for space, her instinct to turn away from him now, hurt like nothing else. Booth did all he could to show that his feelings for her had not changed one iota. Booth made it a point to tell her that he loved her as much as he could and although she always responded in kind, the confusion was evident on her face. He could practically see all the questions in her eyes everytime he professed his love for her.

The turnaround in their relationship in the span of just a few hours made his head spin. The few hours they had been officially engaged were undoubtedly the happiest of his life besides the births of his two children. The look of pure joy on Brennan's face when he answered "yes" would forever be etched in his mind. Though equally, the heartbreak that overwhelmed her pretty face that same day would haunt him for a long time, it was an image that had been burned on the insides of his eyelids. Everytime he closed his eyes, he saw the confusion and sadness laced on her face. The lonely tears she so valiantly tried to hide from him even when a couple of them escaped without her permission. He had heard her quiet sniffles that night when she left him alone in their living room. And there was no mistaking the reason behind her red-rimmed eyes the next morning. There was no question about it, he had broken her heart and in turn that had wrecked something inside him too.

At times, the pain residing in his heart was so crippling, he could barely breathe. The solace and happiness they had created with each other had been broken. He couldn't let them continue the way they were going. There was only one way their relationship was heading at the moment; panic swelled inside Booth at the thought alone. But Pelant had damaged their life so much already and Booth sure as hell wasn't going to let him break them any more than he already head.

It was with a sense of renewed determination that Booth got ready for the day.


	2. Chapter 2

**Thank you so much to the people who left a review for the first chapter, I really appreciate it!**

-x-x-

Brennan stared blankly at the bones in front of her; it was still quite early in the morning so there weren't many people in the lab yet.

She felt a stab of guilt for leaving Booth alone in the morning with nothing more than a kiss to the forehead yet again, but she was confused and hurt and sad, and seeing similar feeling s of pain reflected in Booth's eyes only compounded her confusion. He had been the one to call it off after all.

She had spent much of the past two weeks admonishing herself for feeling the way she was. She had never wanted to get married in the past. So how could she be so upset over not getting something she never wanted in the first place? It made no logical sense….

Except her thoughts on marriage had shifted. And even she couldn't deny that the few hours she had been engaged had been up there as the happiest of her life. The look of sheer joy on Booth's face only increased her own. But what had changed in those few hours? She didn't understand. Why had Booth changed his mind? His reasons were sound, logical… but so un-Booth like, she could barely believe that they had come out from his mouth.

Just a piece of paper? No. Brennan knew marriage meant a heck of a lot more to him than that. So why had he said it? Long evenings spent working or playing with Christine while avoiding Booth, had given her plenty of time to think. On a couple of occasions, stray thoughts that maybe Booth didn't love her as much anymore, entered her mind. Though, Booth's actions and verbal reassurances provided very strong proof that that was not the case at all. His constant verbal declarations of his love for her were completely genuine and sincere, of that, Brennan was absolutely sure. She hated that in the darkest moments, she had questioned his love for her but what else was she supposed to think?

Brennan's heart cracked a little more every time she witnessed Booth's pained expressions when she purposely averted from his touch. She didn't mean to cause him pain but at the moment, everything about the situation hurt. And as much as she wanted to forget about it all and step back in time to when everything was fine between them, she couldn't get over the fact that he had essentially rejected her.

Booth stepped into his office to find Sweets waiting for him, opposite his desk. Plastering a fake smile on his face, Booth greeted him and Sweets spoke.

"Booth, I think we need to talk." Sweets looked at him, his face absent of any emotion that could be classified as 'good' and Booth knew exactly where the conversation was heading. With a faux smile, and an elaborate opening of a file, Booth attempted to dimiss him;

"No, we don't. Everything's fine between me and Bones."

"I didn't say anything about Dr. Brennan." He shot back.

Booth's fake smile slipped of his face, his teeth gritting in preparation of what Sweets was going to say.

"Everyone has noticed the tension between you and Dr. Brennan since the engagement was called off. And no one understands why you called it off in the first place."

"It's just a piece of paper, Sweets. What we have is enough." He mechanically replied using the same words he had used on Brennan. The words felt bitter on his tongue, the lies slipping from his mouth and wrapping themselves around his heart in a strange-hold he couldn't escape.

"That's not what you thought before."

Booth didn't say anything in response because what could he say? He didn't blame people for asking questions; everyone knew getting married to Brennan was a dream of his. Yet, he had apparently turned his dream down? Of course people were going to ask questions. But the person who should be asking the most questions, was asking none at all. Brennan had silently accepted his decision and while he was grateful for that in a way, it hurt him that she was trying to hide her true emotions to save herself and him in the process.

Booth thought they were past that; but how could he blame her for trying to keep her true feelings from him (even though he saw through it all)? Besides, she was completely in the dark about everything and he was the one keeping the massive truth from her.

Also, Booth had quickly realised that his actions must have seemed incredibly cruel to Brennan. For more than two years, he had teased and prodded her on the issue of marriage here and there. And when she had finally been ready for it, he had turned her down. And to rub salt in the wound, he had initially accepted before rejecting her, which only served to exacerbate the cruelty of the situation. Booth felt tears burning at the back of his eyes and quickly blinked to prevent them from spilling out.

He switched his attention back to Sweets who was observing him closely. He looked like he was debating whether or not he should say whatever he had in mind. In the end, he took a deep breath and spoke,

"I find it interesting that your previous two serious relationships fell apart because the women in question turned down your marriage proposal. And now you're on the other side, where you're the one who's turned down the proposal…"

"Enough." Booth spoke angrily.

Sweets noticed that Booth looked upset and so promptly apologised.

Booth's heart hammered, his throat locking at Sweets' words; what if Brennan took his rejection to mean that he didn't want to be with her anymore? And she only had to look at Booth's past failed relationships, for her to think that it was a reasonable assumption to make.

"We're different." Booth gritted out.

"Yes. I know. " And Sweets did know, he knew their previous relationships were not comparable to what they had together now. But it further begged the question; why had Booth turned her down? It made no sense whatsoever, and Sweets' mind hand been unable to ask non-stop questions , since Brennan had quickly and quietly informed him that Booth had decided marriage was not necessary between them. And add to the fact that Booth clearly wasn't happy with what he had done…this entire situation was a mess and confused the hell out of him.

A beat of silence passed between them before Sweets' phone rang and had he had to leave.

"If you ever need to talk…" Sweets let the offer trail off before leaving Booth's office more confused than ever.

Booth watched Sweets walk out and he too left the office soon after.

Work could wait; his visit to the Jeffersonian could not.

-x-x-

**Comments/reviews are much appreciated. **


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